Just Breathe
by Argentum Anubis
Summary: Peter has an anxiety attack. Someone unexpected is there to walk him through it.


**Trigger Warning** : Anxiety attack

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own anything Marvel-related. Sad face.

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Everything in Peter's life had been sort of overwhelming recently, and he didn't realise just how much until he found himself having a panic attack on a random roof one night while on patrol.

Nothing specific had set him off; it wasn't necessary for something to happen in order to have an attack. He just knew that one second, he was looking out over the city- his city, as he liked to consider it- and the next, he had started to hyperventilate.

He ripped off his mask and sat down on the cool ground, trying to collect himself, but was only getting worse. He put his head between his knees as the panicky feeling overtook him, making it hard to think straight. Ordinarily, he would try to count to ten, like everyone _always_ suggested, but this was one of those attacks where he just couldn't.

All he could do now was ride it out.

Karen spoke up suddenly, startling him. "Subject's breathing is unsteady. Assistance required."

"N-no," he groaned. "No, Karen. D… Don't call… Mr. Stark."

But it was too late. The signal had already been sent, and Karen announced, "Mr. Stark has been notified and is on his way."

He punched his knee out of frustration. His hand was shaky, so it didn't hurt at all.

Realising that, once again, there was nothing he could do, he simply stayed where he was, trying to focus on keeping any single thought in his mind.

It was easier now that Mr. Stark was on his way. All he could think was _Jeez, this is embarrassing. Iron Man is going to come here, thinking that I am dying, and instead he'll find me having a panic attack for no good reason._

As he heard the sound of the Iron Man suit drawing near, he feebly tried to sit up and collect himself.

He managed to sit up, but was still nowhere near calm.

"Kid! Hey, Peter!" Tony shouted, kneeling in front of him, his mask pulling back to reveal his concerned face. "What's wrong? Where are you hurt?"

Peter shook his head, making Tony even more confused.

"What? What is it?"

"Not hurt…" gasped Peter.

Tony frowned, quickly taking in the teenager's quivering form and recalling his own troubled past.

"Panic attack?" he inquired.

Peter nodded.

"Okay, then," said Stark. "This I know how to handle." He sat on the ground next to the young man. He put a hand on Peter's back, rubbing soothing circles.

"You know, I'm proud of you, kid," he said slowly, gently, trying to distract the kid.

Peter hummed, his eyes closed, trying to let his mentor know that he was listening.

"Yeah. You've been through a lot, but you've kept yourself together. It's a helluva lot more than half of us can say. Take me, for example. I've had my own fair share of panic attacks, not always in the best of places."

Tony kept on talking, telling Peter know about the time he'd had a panic attack in the middle of fighting a group of terrorists trying to set a bomb in the middle of an important building.

He could feel Peter's breath slow, starting to match his own, but he kept talking anyway, knowing that the attacks could resume, even once you thought they were gone.

Finally, Peter was calm and Tony had finished talking.

Tony stopped rubbing his back, and instead pulled the boy closer to his side.

"Thanks," Peter murmured, exhausted from the stress of the anxiety.

"Anytime, kid. Anytime."

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 **A/N** : So... hey, guys.

I'm not entirely sure how happy I am with this story. I'd planned it to be longer, but while I was writing it, it didn't turn out that way. Because of this, I am considering more stories with Peter and Tony involving anxiety. This is mostly because I see Tony as such a good parental figure, but also because he actually knows about panic attacks, since he's had them. With Peter being younger, and kind of being shoved into this hero life, I can easily see him getting overwhelmed and having a panic attack while on patrol or during a fight or something. Whether or not I do write those stories is partially going to be decided by the reaction people have for _this_ story. Who knows, I might even make a revision of this story and post it as a second chapter. This revision would include more of the things I was going to put in this story in the first place. But, like I said, just let me know what you think and I will _try_ to act on your reviews (no promises, though).

Thanks for reading!


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